Capstone Turbine upgrades Minsk paper mill

Photo: Kapstone Turbine

Capstone Turbine Corporation, the world's leading clean technology manufacturer of microturbine energy systems, announced recently that it recently shipped two C1000 microturbines to upgrade an industrial unitary enterprise “paper mill” in Minsk, Belarus.

BPC Engineering, Capstone’s largest distributor in Russia, secured the order, which shipped in late June and will be commissioned later this year. BPC has traditionally been one of Capstone’s largest distribution partners, with over 1,400 microturbines operating in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. The company is a leading supplier of energy efficient solutions and state-of-the-art equipment for distributed power generation.

The microturbine installation will serve as part of the paper mill’s boiler house renovation due to the expansion of production lines and an increase in power demand. Capstone microturbines were selected for their ability to significantly reduce the customer’s energy costs as well as make the paper production facility significantly more energy efficient.

The natural gas-fueled C1000 microturbines will be installed in a combined heat and power (CHP) application to provide primary power to the facility. Additionally, the heat from the clean exhaust will be used to generate approximately four tons of steam per hour for technological processes, heating and hot water production. The two-megawatt system will operate in dual mode at over 80 percent system efficiency and cover about 80 to 90 percent of the facility’s electrical needs.

“I am pleased that BPC’s business continues to recover and they are again prepaying and taking delivery of Capstone products. As BPC product shipments play a critical role in Capstone’s cash planning process, BPC is required to pay prior to shipment for all future product releases from backlog, and to pay an additional 15 percent of the total value for each shipment in order to lower their past-due accounts receivable balance,” said Darren Jamison, Capstone's President and Chief Executive Officer.

“Onsite CHP will not only make the paper mill more efficient, it will generate electricity at about half the price of the standard utility rates in the region,” said Jim Crouse, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Capstone. “BPC estimates that the annual estimated savings will be US $500,000 through the microturbine implementation,” added Mr. Crouse.